HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



75 



was generally a scuffle about bedtime, in which the 

 larger of the two most often gained the ascendancy. 

 They soon grew too large for their cage, and then 

 the question arose what to do with them next — where 

 to place them ? At the top of our house, just under 

 the slates, is a large unfinished attic. Looking in 

 from the door you see nothing but beams and laths 

 and plaster, and uncompleted rough tops of walls, 

 and a small flight of steps leading out on to the roof. 

 This was voted a capital roomy place for Jack and 

 Jill, and accordingly they were carried up and there 

 installed, soon discarding their old cage. Here they 

 grew and prospered, and in a week or two began to 

 show their natural propensity, that of hiding. If 

 supplied with more food than they had appetite for 

 at the moment, off they would run with a beakful of 

 worms or meat or rice pudding, or anything it might 

 chance to be, and thrust it into some hole or corner, 

 returning quickly for more. How these dainties 

 tasted after being well mixed with dust and mortar, 

 I have no idea ; but it was well for us when the birds 

 chose such places, for when it came to having a 

 beakful of ripe juicy red currants or soft rice pudding 

 thrust slyly down the back of our neck or in the 

 folds of our dress, it was not so pleasant. A very 

 favourite trick was perching on the top of our head 

 and flying off with any smart-coloured bow of ribbon 

 which might adorn it. If not immediately rescued, — 

 rather a difficult matter, by the way, they are so 

 quick, — there was no knowing when or in what 

 condition it would be recovered. It was extremely 

 amusing to see them with two young kittens. We 

 endeavoured to make them all live together in a 

 " happy family, feed at the same dish," &c; but the 

 birds would not allow this, for no sooner did a 

 kitten begin to enjoy its dinner, than the jealous 

 magpie would steal round and slyly pull poor pussy's 

 tail, with such roughness as to make her spit and 

 growl, and finally another attack would send her 

 vanquished off the field with every hair erect. Poor 

 Jill's love of hiding soon brought her to a sad end. 

 She was missiug one day, and after a loDg search was 

 discovered lifeless under a board. It was evident 

 that in order to effectually hide some dainty mouth- 

 ful she had pushed herself so far under the board as 

 to be unable to get out again, and so died. Jack 

 did not seem to mourn the loss of his Jill so deeply as 

 he might have done, we thought. Indeed, he is rather 

 the gainer than otherwise, as he gets now all the atten- 

 tions formerly bestowed on the two. He has already 

 learnt tosay "Jack!" "PoorJacky!" "Oh, Poor Jack," 

 and is so tame that he will feed out of our hand or 

 perch on our shoulder. He is very sly, too, and 

 you must beware of a sly poke or severe dig with 

 his sharp beak in an unguarded moment. His 

 great delight is in rushing at any unprotected ankles, 

 and if prevented by a long dress in front he runs 

 round to try to attack from behind. He is dreadfully 

 excited at the sight of a pair of bright-coloured 



slippers, such as blue or red. The former colour is 

 his espeqial aversion, and a dress in bright blue 

 makes him scream loudly. As for food, Jack will 

 eat almost anything, — cooked meats, pastry, and 

 toffee are great treats. He is so fond of them that 

 he does not care to hide them, but swallows them 

 at once. He requires very little attention, and that 

 he receives most gratefully — showing so much attach- 

 ment, or at least partiality, to particular persons, 

 that we are sometimes strongly inclined to disbelieve 

 the saying that birds show no affection. He delights 

 in a bath of fresh water every day, but looks a most 

 disreputable object after it. No one seeing him at 

 that moment would imagine him the beautiful bird 

 that he appears half an hour afterwards, in his glossy 

 white and black raiment, the latter showing all the 

 colours of the rainbow on their shining surfaces. 

 With all his faults and good qualities he has endeared 

 himself with one and all, and very sorry we should 

 be to lose our pet " Jack."— C. H. R. Gwastad. 



OUR BRITISH ERITILLARIES. 



THE British Fritillaries form a small and very 

 natural group of our small quota of butter- 

 flies. Alike in markings and general structure, 

 though varying considerably in size, their habits 

 show some striking resemblances, and some strange 

 differences. Several of the species are sure to be 

 amongst' those which stimulate the young entomo- 

 logist in his earlier and eager chases after these 

 insects, more literally even than many others, the 

 "flowers of the air." The larger Fritillaries are 

 mostly difficult to capture, as they fly rapidly, and 

 can rise to a good height in the air. They do not, ' 

 however, travel for miles in the air, as the Vanessas 

 are known to do, and other strong-winged butter- 

 flies. The smaller Fritillaries, though not so easily 

 taken as are the Whites, and some of the Meadow 

 butterflies, are nevertheless rather languid on the 

 wing. Both in the case of the large and small 

 species we find that they generally make choice, at 

 the time of their emergence on the wing, of a spot 

 of ground where they congregate, and which has 

 been called their " metropolis." Thus a species 

 will be found in dozens about an opening in a wood, 

 and only stragglers in other parts of the wood. 

 Some entomologists have stated that in woods where 

 a certain species occurs, the metropolis or centring- 

 spot is changed every year. One observer in driv- 

 ing through a park noticed that the three species, 

 designated Argynnis, Adippe, Aglaia, and PapMa, 

 were all out on that particular July day, but not 

 mingling with each other; and he fancied that each 

 species had a predilection for its own selected ground, 

 on account of the trees that were growing there, as 

 the plantations varied in the different parts of the 

 park. As to this, we have not as yet sufficient 



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